HITS

Keynotes Set for Oct. 18 HITS Fall Summit in L.A.

The Hollywood IT community will gather again on Oct. 18 at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles for its bi-annual Summit, providing 500-plus studio leaders and their technology partners with a progress report on the new tools, trends and technologies that are changing the way the consumer engages with and experiences entertainment.

Under the direction of the CIOs of every leading studio, this year’s HITS Fall program — with the theme “Innovating the Next Consumer Experience” — will once again help accelerate the industry’s digital transformation.

“Entertainment is going direct-to-consumer and, as such, the opportunities to personalize the experience and build a one-on-one relationship with viewers has never been so attainable,” said conference chair Devendra Mishra. “HITS Fall will share best practices and successful case studies to show how new technologies and innovative business approaches are changing the way the world is entertained everywhere.”

HITS Fall’s first keynote speaker is Annie Jacobsen, a Pulitzer-Prize finalist and author who will explore “Disruptive Technology: Taking a Page Out of the Pentagon’s Playbook.” Jacobsen will provide a cautionary tale about how DARPA, the world’s most powerful and potent research agency, has transformed the world, from the internet to GPS to human cyborgs, only once being outperformed by biology.

Also on the keynote stage is Val Wright, an internationally recognized global leadership, innovation expert and growth accelerator whose book “Thoughtfully Ruthless®: The Key to Exponential Growth,” explores the pivotal role innovation plays in catapulting ahead of the competition.

Once again, hundreds of women executives will be joining the event to attend the co-located SoCal Women’s Leadership Group meeting, which is being produced jointly by Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH) and the Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) with the support of Women@Disney, Women of Fox Sports, Women’s Network@NBC Universal,  Women of Warner (WOW) and Sony Pictures’ Women in Technology (WiT) and Women of Action Vision & Empowerment (WAVE).

Other scheduled HITS: Fall sessions will include:

• Intellectual Property Management: The Nexus of Content Creation and Monetization
• Crafting the Digital Persona of Hollywood in the Social Media World
• Collaboration of TV Technical Operations and Digital Media
• Enabling New Forms of Content and Delivery: Satisfying the Emerging Demography
• Building a Hybrid Cloud for TV Everywhere: Acquiring and Retaining Customers
• The Digital Age of the CIO: Making Investments in People and Technology to Reward Customers and Increase Profitability
• Integrating Systems for Film and Home Entertainment for Digital Delivery
• SaaS-based Product Lifecycle Management to Drive Worldwide Digital Content Sales
• Why OTT Tech Will Drive the Future of Entertainment
• Blockchain Meets the Hollywood Supply Chain
• Solving Hollywood’s OTT Marketing Challenge
• The Work Ahead: Mastering Hollywood’s Digital Future

HITS Fall is programmed under the guidance of the Content Advisors of the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), which includes Steve Andujar, EVP and CIO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Bruce Bleasdale, VP of operations, technology, The Walt Disney Company; John Herbert, EVP and CIO, Fox Filmed Entertainment; Steve Lapinski, CIO, film and West Coast TV, NBCUniversal; Theresa Miller, CIO and EVP, information technology, Lionsgate; Scott Phelan, group information officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment; and Abe Wong, CIO, Paramount Pictures.

HITS: Fall is produced by the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) and the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), in association with the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA), Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH) and the Smart Content Council, and is presented by title sponsor Cast & Crew.

For more information visit: www.HollywoodITSummit.com. To become a sponsor and participate in the event contact: Christian Calson, 310-945-6284, or [email protected].